Monster in the Room

The most astonishing innovation in selling products on a grand scale is the mail-order catalog. Specifically, the Sears Roebuck catalog. Dwarfing all others, it's like a combination of Amazon and Home Depot.

Everything conceivable that anyone might want, in a home or on the farm, can be delivered to the nearest railroad station, anywhere in America. This means that farm families can live like urban dwellers, in theory at least.

Sears begins in Chicago, selling jewelry and watches by mail-order only. It keeps adding products to its yearly catalog, which grows to 300 pages within two years. Farmers, especially, are hooked.

The 1902 Sears catalog has 1,100 pages. Separate catalogs are added later just for electrical and plumbing hardware, and another for factory-made kits allowing customers to build complete houses or barns, all delivered by rail.
Sears Roebuck catalog, 1920s

  Delivered Anywhere
Many manufacturers print catalogs showcasing their products. The problem is getting the catalogs into the hands of customers. Manufacturers are generally unknown outside the city in which they're located, and most catalogs are only distributed locally. Sears Roebuck changes all that in a big way, offering a huge mail-order catalog that it distributes widely. The catalog shown here costs 50 cents, but later catalogs are mailed for free. The 40-acre Sears manufacturing and warehouse facility in Chicago is among the largest in the world.

Sears women's clothing, 1920s

  Inexhaustible Choices
The 1920 Sears catalog opens with women's wear, covering the full range from infants to matrons. This goes on for 250 pages.  Some of the illustrations are in color (enhanced here), and all are richly detailed. 


Sears men's and farm clothing, 1920s

  Even for Farmers
The following 50 pages cover the same range for men and boys. This is where work and farm-related items make their first appearance. Half of all Americans still live on a farm, and products aimed at this market are sprinkled throughout the pages.  


Sears shoes and accessories, 1920s

  Fashion for the Masses
The catalog includes an extensive display of shoes and handbags, and page after page of watches, jewelry, cosmetics, tonics, health aids and other personal items. Note that women's shoes are now offered with higher heels.


Sears home goods, 1920s

  And Everything Else
The remaining 700 pages feature all manner of household items, from cameras and fabrics, to kitchen items and furniture. Among the more surprising items are musical instruments (including pianos and organs), encyclopedias, firearms and even farm egg incubators. Sears publishes separate catalogs just for plumbing and electrical equipment, which display everything you might need to modernize a bathroom, or install a home heating system. 


Sears home kits and barn kits, 1920s

  Even Homes and Barns
Just as impressive are catalogs devoted exclusively to kits for building homes, barns, cabins, garages and sheds. These kits contain full plans, plus all materials required to finish the job, including nails and paint. Framing lumber is pre-cut and numbered, allowing rapid construction methods that reduce total construction costs by 40%, according to Sears' claims. Altogether, the Sears catalog is a staggering achievement.